Larry Kudlow advises China to take President Trump seriously

It seems the tit-for-tat trade war between the U.S. and China is not going in favor of either of the countries. After the Trump administration declared that it’s considering to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent instead of 10 percent originally proposed last month on $200 billion of Chinese goods, the China government has announced its own counterattack measures.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has threatened to put impose duties of 25 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent and 5 percent on US products worth $60 billion if in case the Trump government doesn’t back down. It is just waiting for the next move from Washington.

According to CNN Money, the Chinese government has compiled a list of around 5,207 US products on which the new tariff plan would be levied. The list includes nuts, meat, coffee, alcoholic drinks, minerals, chemicals, furniture, machinery, auto parts, plastic and leather products as well as wood products.

The Trump government has already imposed 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods worth $34 billion as a punishment for Beijing’s unfair trade practices such as stealing intellectual property. The White House officials were hoping that the latest threat would force Chinese officials to come on the table for negotiations, but, China has evolved strong with more retaliatory measures.

Soon after China announced its countermeasures on Friday, Larry Kudlow, Trump’s chief economic adviser, warned the Chinese government against underestimating the President’s determination any further. He called the Chinese economy “weak”, not strong enough to withstand a lengthy fight.

“They better not underestimate President Trump’s determination to follow through on our asks,” Kudlow said. “China is in trouble right now — their economy is lousy, investors are walking out, the currency is falling.”

According to experts, the trade conflict between U.S. and China, which shows no signs of abating, will do nothing good but hurt the economies of both countries. The trade turnover between the United States and China is worth around $650 billion each year.